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Religiously American

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11/21/2007 / Christian Living

Religion reigns in the U.S., both inside and outside of the church. American citizens are religiously American whether they love, hate or don't even care about America. Ironically, the truest sons and daughters of this American system are those who rail against it most vehemently.

What this means first off is: We should trust God before we trust any governmental system. According to God's heavenly point of view, there is nothing inherently virtuous about the American system or any other man-made government for that matter.

I myself love this country. I have cause to be thankful for these United States that exceeds my capacity to express appreciation. Priceless treasure abounds for all who live here, such as endless freedoms and opportunities.

But I will trust Christ before I will in trust these things. And I will honor God most substantially when I am a wise steward of these things in Christ's name. In any case, no matter what country or region of the world I inhabit, my purpose is to bring attention to God's eternal Government, which is the Spirit of Christ in us.

As for the American way, including whatever form it has taken in the more distant past, it has always been a religious way. Even non-religious Americans are religiously non-religious.

And those American religions that esteem themselves advanced beyond their religious peers are only exposing their exceptionally zealous religiosity. Though some religious traditions claim to stand apart from their peers, yet they are just as dependent on the same American way as everyone else.

Most of my experience with American religion has been with Protestant Christianity. We Protestants zealously imagine ourselves as something beyond religious. Yet we adhere to this self-perception religiously.

Protestantism is only one of many American religions that specializes in making even the most blatantly non-traditional endeavor into another religious exercise. Protestantism is one of the most obvious examples of an overarching phenomenon amongst Americans, which is that, we are all more religious than we would like to admit.

But religion has between little and nothing to do with the Living God. My experience has been that western religion in particular is as useless for teaching people Christ as cooking channels are useless for teaching people how to cook.

Without warning their audience, cooking-channel chefs set up all their pre-measured ingredients before the show even goes on air. Then, with careless ease, they throw their ingredients together into a perfect cornucopia of culinary delight. This demonstration might be entertaining to those who have no intention of imitating this chef, but it is to the utter dismay of the few who are actually trying to learn. The cooking layman with an average kitchen full of regular utensils has no hope of following along with the TV-chef.

Christ, on the other hand, is much more reasonable than cooking-channel chefs. He walks alongside His disciples and teaches them as they go. He orchestrates the conditions of His people's everyday lives to reveal Himself and all the possibilities of divine mystery. By living alongside His people, Christ causes Himself, the Truth, to hit home, down to a person's mind, soul and convictions.

by Patrick Roberts. Find his book and additional resources at www.BooksByPatrick.com

Patrick is an average Christ-seeker. His goal is to turn people to Jesus Christ.

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